CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Ahead of a hearing next week by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, property rights supporters held meetings across the state to inform people about the importance of property rights and royalties from mineral and gas companies.
The state Supreme Court is scheduled to rehear Leggett v. EQT on Tuesday. In November, the court ruled in favor of landowners after EQT Corporation, a Pittsburgh-based petroleum and natural gas company, took deductions from royalty payments.
The court ruled 3-2 with Chief Justice Mentis Ketchum and Justice Allen Loughry dissenting. Justice Brent Benjamin, who wrote the majority opinion, was defeated in his May 2016 re-election by Beth Walker, who now sits on the court.
Advocates held …show more content…
"There's the drilling and they're dealing with people who are coming and taking leases," he said. "Obviously, these issues will affect the southern part of the state, but they are not affecting it right now."
The Marcellus and Utica shales goes from West Virginia to southern New York and includes parts of eastern Ohio. According to the plaintiffs, EQT deducted as much as 30 percent from landowners' royalty payments to cover post-production expenses such as transportation and processing.
Huber said EQT is not abiding to state law by passing costs onto land owners.
"If the case goes the gas companies way, that's millions and millions of dollars a year not paid to West Virginians, but go directly to gas companies' headquarters in Oklahoma City and Pennsylvania," he said.
Huber said one point of the meetings was to prepare people in case a different ruling is made.
"In case the court case goes the opposite way that it did in the fall, we'd like the Legislature to fix the problem and pass legislation to put things back to the way things have been in the past," he said. "Where gas companies don't get to take deductions unless they get you to agree to
The state Supreme Court is scheduled to rehear Leggett v. EQT on Tuesday. In November, the court ruled in favor of landowners after EQT Corporation, a Pittsburgh-based petroleum and natural gas company, took deductions from royalty payments.
The court ruled 3-2 with Chief Justice Mentis Ketchum and Justice Allen Loughry dissenting. Justice Brent Benjamin, who wrote the majority opinion, was defeated in his May 2016 re-election by Beth Walker, who now sits on the court.
Advocates held …show more content…
"There's the drilling and they're dealing with people who are coming and taking leases," he said. "Obviously, these issues will affect the southern part of the state, but they are not affecting it right now."
The Marcellus and Utica shales goes from West Virginia to southern New York and includes parts of eastern Ohio. According to the plaintiffs, EQT deducted as much as 30 percent from landowners' royalty payments to cover post-production expenses such as transportation and processing.
Huber said EQT is not abiding to state law by passing costs onto land owners.
"If the case goes the gas companies way, that's millions and millions of dollars a year not paid to West Virginians, but go directly to gas companies' headquarters in Oklahoma City and Pennsylvania," he said.
Huber said one point of the meetings was to prepare people in case a different ruling is made.
"In case the court case goes the opposite way that it did in the fall, we'd like the Legislature to fix the problem and pass legislation to put things back to the way things have been in the past," he said. "Where gas companies don't get to take deductions unless they get you to agree to